Do you know what is the main event that precipitated my journey of stepping into my purposeful work, the work I do now?
It’s my layoff from Yahoo! 12 years ago…
As shocked and scared as I was when it happened, I was also relieved…
…relieved to leave work that was not in alignment with my purpose anymore.
…relieved to not have to constantly adjust to tasks that were getting further outside my zones of genius and excellence.
…relieved from second-guessing myself and wondering if I was smart enough.
…relieved from being able to use only 40% of my core strengths at work and having to leave the others in the shadow, unexpressed, unseen, and unappreciated.
After taking the time to feel my feelings and take care of myself, I started to see the layoff as the opportunity I needed to finally actualize my dream…
…the dream that I had been contemplating for more than six years.
…the dream to do work that fully aligns with my true talents, passions, and purpose.
….the work I do now: helping high-achieving professionals, executives, and managers create purposeful work that reignites their passion and makes a difference.
A layoff can be a catalyst to step into your purpose, thework that truly matters to you.
It can be a blessing in disguise to give you the push to finally go for your dreams and to stop postponing them to “someday.’ Did you notice that “someday” is not a day on the calendar? If you wait for it to come, I will probably never will.
A catalyst for purposeful work, this is what it is for my client too. Successful Senior Director in Product Marketing, she just got laid off.
Only the day after she was laid off, she came up with a BRILLIANT business idea that is so aligned with her purpose and so perfect for her. She is thrilled and I am too.
Why did she come up with this idea with so much clarity and confidence?
…Because of all the preparatory work we have done together in the past few months to help her clarify her core drivers, values, strengths, personality type, true passions, and purpose. The essential work to excavate her true self, purpose, and talents, buried under decades of climbing the corporate ladder and what a successful career is supposed to look like.
This is why she can use this layoff as a stepping stone toward her dream career, instead of a setback.
As traumatic as a layoff can be, I know she will look back at it as the day that accelerated her journey toward her purposeful work. And she will be grateful for it, as I am for my own.
Of course, it is important to first honor and feel all the feelings, the shock, the fears, the grief, all of it, and get support around it. This is how you move through it, by feeling it first, before moving into what is next.
But what if your layoff–or any challenge you encounter–was actually a stepping stone in realigning your career and life with what matters most, instead of a setback? Or maybe a helping hand the Universe is sending you to reach your next dream? This is what it felt like for me.
(Note: Feel free to replace “layoff” with any challenge that is happening to you. The same questions apply. You can also forward this email to someone you know–friend, relative, spouse, or coworker–who got laid off and may need to hear this.)
What if this layoff was happening FOR you and not AGAINST you?
When you are ready, after honoring the feelings and getting support, I invite you to ponder these questions and find the truth in them for you.
If you need a supportive, empathic ear, I’m here. So don’t hesitate to reply and share with me.
I’ve been in your shoes. And, on top of the layoff, losing my working visa to stay in the US was not easy. I can tell you. In one day, I was losing my work, my livelihood, and I was close to losing my home too.
You are not alone.
Reach out.
I believe in you. I believe in your dreams. I believe in your purpose.
With love,
Isabelle
P.S. If you doubt whether you have a purpose, I can tell you this: every single person on earth has unique talents and a purpose to offer the world, I know it after working with hundreds of professionals, including people who doubted they had a purpose when they started working with me. I’m naturally gifted in helping you see what you cannot see in yourself. This is the gift I was given, so trust me, even if you don’t yet believe it, I believe it for you.
Do you remember that time last year when, following my intuition, I submitted a proposal to speak at an International Conference only five min before the deadline?
I’ll be speaking at the International Enneagram Association Global Conference this July in San Francisco!
My topic will be “Ignite Purposeful Work: Harnessing the Combined Power of Enneagram and Myers-Briggs.”
I’m excited about it because the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs are two of the tools I use, among many others, to help my clients, high-achieving professionals, managers, and executives, discover and actualize their next purposeful work.
When used well and at the right time in the process, these tools can lead to tremendous results in helping my clients discover the work they are here to do and how to make it happen. This is what I learned through my ten years of combined experience using the two systems with my clients.
Here is what my past clients Adam and Ryan say about it…
“Isabelle’s approach isalot more scientific than I was expecting even though it never loses sight of your intuition and feelings by incorporating mindfulness and visualization exercises. I learned a lot about my personality type which was worth the price of admission alone because it helps in all aspects of my everyday life. I also learned that some of my perceived weaknesses were in fact manifestations of misunderstood or ignored strengths. At the end of the process, I was able to confidently negotiate a unique role and arrangement with my current employerthat broke the mold for typical corporate job descriptions but fit my personality and work habits so well that my boss was 100% supportive and I am living a more fulfilling life. Thank you Isabelle!”
– Adam D., Oakland, California
“Isabelle’s process of identifying the “personal blueprint,” using tools very different from the traditional Myers-Briggs personality typing, brought tremendous insight into aspects of my personality that were huge assets and strengths that I had previous taken for granted [..]. It also helped me to become comfortable with what didn’t come naturally to me in a way no other personal development work I’d ever done had been able to do. For the first time, I was able to take seriously the often extremely powerful feedback I had gotten from others and fully accept that the aspects of myself […] that I had previously overlooked, undervalued or simply denied were very real and in fact powerful. This sent me on a journey of self-development that ended in not abandoning my career at all, but being able to see it in a completely new way. That has allowed me to access resources I didn’t know I had and grow immensely and quickly in my executive leadership role while at the same time also embarking on a new career simultaneously.”
– Ryan M., San Francisco, California
This is why I’m so excited to talk about this and I’d love for you to join me at the conference, virtually or in person!
The International Enneagram Association’s global conference will be held in San Francisco, CA USA, July 20-23 and will feature high-quality keynote and endnote speakers, plus over 30 sessions from presenters around the world (including me).
If you can’t join in person, the conference offers a virtual track that will live-stream the keynote, endnote, and selected presentations from the conference. Simultaneous translation will occur in Arabic, Korean and Spanish. Whether you join in person or online, there will be plenty of opportunities for speakers and conferees to interact with each other as a global community.
If you are new to the Enneagram, you can join for the affordable “Discovery Track” which is sure to ignite your passion for the Enneagram. This one-day special offering is designed with the Enneagram novice in mind.
I look forward to connecting with you at the conference or through this email.
I often hear this from high-achieving leaders and professionals who want to change careers, find purposeful work, or their second or third career.
Is this you or maybe someone you know—a friend, relative, spouse, or coworker?
….maybe someone who just got laid off and is wondering what’s next.
Well, here is where you start.
This is where I start with most of my clients.
This is where I started on my path.
This is why my clients gain crystal clarity, confidence, and certainty about the direction of their careers.
You start with clarifying your own personalized COMPASS to your meaningful work.
We all have one.
A built-in compass to a career and life or purpose, meaning, and joy.
It’s already inside of you.
Do you know yours?
If not, this may be…
…why you are lost or stuck, wondering what’s next in your career or what is the right path to take.
…why you let external pressure, fears, and doubts take a hold of you as you choose your career path.
…why you end up in a career that is draining you and sucking the energy, joy, and meaning out of you.
The good news is that you came into the world with a built-in compass to a career and life of purpose, joy, and meaning.
When you are clear on your inner compass…
…you know which career and life direction to pursue.
…you stop second-guessing yourself and your career choices.
…you find the clarity, confidence, and motivation to finally take the next step.
…you stop procrastinating on your dreams and envying others who go after theirs.
…you navigate skillfully your career and life.
It’s why I just created a new free report to help you get started on discovering–or re-discovering–your inner compass to your purposeful work. This is for you if you want to bring more meaning, joy, and purpose into your existing or next career.
In this free report, you will discover:
your built-in compass to guide you toward your purposeful work,
the 4 elements of your unique compass so that you can align your career and life with who you really are,
8 simple tools you can use right away to start uncovering your inner compass.
Do you wonder what is one of the most powerful tools to manifest and create what you want?
It’s probably not what you think… Read on as I share about it
A week ago, I felt compelled to have this travel brochure open on the page of Copenhagen, Denmark, in my apartment.
Traveling around the world is an intention of mine. I like displaying in my home things that represent what I want more of in my life, such as the travel destinations I want to visit. However, Denmark and Copenhagen are not necessarily on my Top 5 or even Top 10 lists.
However, I felt a strong pull to keep the brochure open on that page. I was not sure why… except maybe because I loved this pic. My logical mind was saying “Denmark is not in your top 5, you should use a different picture,” my intuition was saying: “keep it there.”
Well, guess what?
Four days later, a past client from five years ago reached out to work with me again. Guess where she lives? Copenhagen! Five years ago, she did my Land the Career You Love 1:1 Program. I helped her manifest her dream to move from the US to Copenhagen to work and live there. She now needs support to reach her next career dream.
You may think this is just a coincidence…
Well, my skeptical mind would have thought this too in the past, until Inoticed occurrences like this happening over and over again…
That day in Paris in 2001 when I felt compelled to get back home as soon as possible… Thirty minutes after I got back to my Parisian apartment, I received a phone call on my landline (no cell phones at the time!) to offer me a position to work in Montreal, Canada. A month before, my then-boyfriend and I had set the intention to move either to Canada or Australia. This call totally changed the trajectory of my life and started my journey in North America, from Montreal to San Francisco.
That time when I felt called to share my phone number in an email replying to an ad for an apartment on Craigslist… I generally would not share my phone number in the first email. Providing my phone number resulted in me getting the apartment of my dreams with a hot tub and a breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The landlord called my phone, heard my voice message, visited my business website, thought I was probably a serious candidate, and asked me to visit the apartment that same day. After five minutes of visiting the place, I knew it was the place I had envisioned.
That morning, on the doorstep of my apartment in Mountain View ready to leave for work at Yahoo! when I felt a nudge telling me to go and grab my external hard drive… Several hours later, I was laid off from Yahoo! and was able to quickly save the portfolio of my work because I had my hard drive with me.
Last month, when I felt called to sign up for several classes on Manifesting, even though my logical mind was telling me “this is not what you need right now; you already know that stuff; why do you want to take these classes?” But something in me felt the pull to sign up anyway. As a result, I discovered a mentor and a program that is EXACTLY what I need this year to achieve my next-level dreams. My logical mind would never have conceived that this is what I needed most. If I had listened to her and what “made sense” instead of my intuition, I would have passed that amazing opportunity to reach my next dreams.
The list goes on and on… I’ve dozen and dozen examples like these.
What are you listening to when you make decisions?
Your rational mind and what makes “logical sense”
OR
your intuition, your gut feeling, the quiet whisper within?
Well, if you rely mostly on your logical mind and what “makes sense” when making decisions, you are…
probably working WAY harder than you could to get what you want,
and missing out on many amazing opportunities because they don’t seem “rational” or “reasonable.”
in Western cultures, we give too much power to the mind and what makes logical sense. As a result, we prevent great things from happening in our lives and we make things way harder than they could be.
“The intuitive mind Is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” ~ Albert Einstein or someone else (uncertain attribution)
This has been one of my MOST IMPORTANT lessons in the past several years, and continues to be.
I’m someone quite rational; this is how I was raised. Reason is highly valued in France. Remember this is the country of Descartes: “I think therefore I am.” I’ve led a big part of my life following reason over intuition and gut feeling. However, over the years, I’ve learned that the more I follow my intuition, the easier I create the things I want in my work and life.
It is a continual learning in surrendering to deeper knowing than the rational mind. However, the more I trust this inner knowing—like in the instances I shared above—, my intuition, my gut feeling, my instincts, however you want to call it, the more magic happens in my life and the easier things come to me. The things I attract as a result are way BETTER than what I could have conceived if I had followed the logical steps dictated by my rational mind.
Such as:
the perfect work situation to move to Montreal, Canada.
my dream apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area at a reasonable monthly rent, compared to the current market.
the perfect mentors to help me unlock my next career and life dreams.
an amazing immigration lawyer to help me get a US working Visa better than I could have imagined.
If things feel consistently hard in your life, it could be because you are overthinking and over-relying on your rational mind. Obviously, this is not the only piece of the puzzle, but I see so many people discounting their inner knowing and true desires on the altar of seemingly “reasonable decisions that make sense.”
It is not because our Western societies overemphasize rational intelligence as a decision-making instrument, that this is the most effective tool to get what we want in our lives.
My experience is actually showing the opposite.
If this is new to you, I encourage you to start practicing with small things, without major consequences.
When facing a decision, notice when you feel an internal conflict or feel torn. It may be your logical mind conflicting with your authentic desire. What one is saying? What about the other?
Practice noticing the nudges of your instinct, gut feeling, or desires.
Be careful when you hear yourself or a well-intentioned friend saying something like “You should do this or that.” Be wary of the shoulds. Most of the time, they come from your rational mind and fears. “Shoulds” and ‘haves to” are not an effective compass to get what you truly want.
I’ve learned that if I’m strongly called to do something, I don’t need to know the why or if it makes sense. I do it, like opening up the travel brochure to the page of Copenhagen.
What are you called to do that you may stop yourself from doing out of “shoulds” or’ seemingly ‘”reasonable” arguments?
If you are curious about the work I do, below is a sample based on my clients’ sessions today.
Today, I helped…
my client who works in HR for Accenture, discover her purpose & vision for her next career in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice.
➤ She left the session lit up and excited about some tangible action steps to take in the next few months.
my client who is Senior Director in Product Marketing for a tech company uncover her natural leadership style, why it clashes with her boss’s, and what to do about it at her next meeting.
➤ She left the session finally understanding the strengths of her leadership style, why her manager does not see and value them (as they are different than his), and what to do to address it.
my client, Senior Product Designer, successful, smart and a high achiever who tends to repress her emotions which causes her stress and fatigue at work and life. We did a powerful process to help her learn to welcome her emotions more, and use them as a leveraging tool in her career/life, instead of a hindrance.
➤ She left the session with some internal shifts and practices to welcome/leverage her emotions instead of repressing them.
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